Apple

Apple is trying to make it more attractive for iTunes shoppers to buy full albums rather than just single tracks. The plan involves giving customers additional electronic material to simulate the experience of owning a physical product, like a CD. ... Codenamed 'Cocktail,' Apple's scheme reportedly has the support of all four major record labels. It would mean album buyers not only received electronic copies of album covers, liner notes, lyrics lists and other printed material, but that there'd be some degree of interactivity -- for example, by having the track listing act as a menu. (Source: ... (view more)

Apple has formally applied to launch the iPhone in China. The move, earlier than expected, appears to have been made possible once the firm agreed to drop WiFi capability. There are both political and technical reasons for WiFi issues in China. ... Until April this year, the government refused to allow any WiFi handsets. Officially that was because of fears users would add Internet phone services such as Skype and use those to make calls, to the detriment of China's phone companies. Unofficially it was thought the government believed WiFi would make it harder to monitor communications. Censorship ... (view more)

The first man to "jailbreak" the original iPhone has done so again with the new 3GS model. Jailbreaking means users who install a piece of unauthorized software are then able to run any applications they like, not just those from the official App ... Store. George Hotz cracked the security system on the 3GS in just two weeks, releasing a Windows version of his jailbreaking tool, dubbed purp1erain, on Friday. Yesterday afternoon he released a Mac edition of the same tool. According to Hotz, his work was relatively easy. He took advantage of a security loophole discovered in the last new ... (view more)

Apple fans will be encouraged to hear that the company's iconic CEO Steve Jobs has returned from medical leave. Jobs had been away for several months due to what Apple has described as a "hormone imbalance". News of Jobs' recent health issues ... emerged back in January , when several reports suggested the dynamic Apple co-founder was suffering from an undisclosed but perhaps serious medical problem. Some insiders even worried that Jobs, who most can tell has lost a significant amount of weight, could have been experiencing the return of pancreatic cancer, which sidelined him several ... (view more)

Apple is celebrating after the latest incarnation of the iPhone sold a million units in its first weekend. However, the firm has issued compensation to some customers who were unable to fully activate their handsets. The sales figures of the 3G S ... are keeping pace with the 3G, which came out last August. That's an impressive number, given that many consumers are cutting back on spending this year and that there are no revolutionary changes to the new model other than an improvement in speed. Pre Sales Figures May be Inflated It's worth remembering that Apple's counting methods are considered ... (view more)

Four senators have written to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) calling for an investigation into exclusive deals between cellphone manufacturers and network carriers. Though the letter doesn't name any particular companies, it appears ... that Apple's deal with AT ... (view more)

According to popular blog TechCrunch, Apple is in the process of finalizing a sales pitch for Twitter that would see them acquire the microblogging platform for an estimated $700 million. The report comes off the heels of a different rumor ... suggesting that Apple is also in the process of securing the popular computer-game maker Electronic Arts. Rising Popularity to Explain Apple's Interest Oprah and Ashton Kutcher are not the only ones using Twitter. The social networking haven has attracted new users by the hundreds each day since its inception back in 2006. While Apple declined to comment on ... (view more)

According to reports, Apple is planning to cut its laptop, the MacBook, by around $100-$150. It's as much a response to the competition from netbooks as to the recession. The main source of the rumors is the usually reliable Appleinsider.com site. ... It says Apple's plans to develop a tablet computer -- perhaps like a much larger iPod Touch -- will wind up taking longer than expected. (Source: appleinsider.com ) That's a blow to plans that the tablet will stop users defecting to netbooks, the increasingly popular slimmed-down laptops which offer basic functionality, notably web surfing, at a ... (view more)

Apple has made a move towards constructing its own line of chips by acquiring the services of several IBM and Nintendo designers. It's believed the move is meant to help the company save money in the future. Ask any number of people to name the ... makers of the Mac, iPhone or iPod and expect almost everyone to say " Apple ". However, the truth is that there are many other additional companies needed to manufacture such small, yet complex devices, and so simply answering "Apple" does not tell the whole story. When Apple purchased chipmaker P.A. Semi back in April 2008, many viewed the acquisition ... (view more)